Developed technique for diver ‘sleep’ sharks
The Italian diver Cristina Zanato developed a little known technique for ‘sleeping’ sharks called tonic restraint. Rubbing her hand gently over small gaps around your mouth and nose, known as ampullae of Lorenzini, it induces the animals to a state of paralysis, in which they stay for up to 15 minutes. The ampullae of Lorenzini electroreceptors are sensory organs that help the animal to detect vibrations around you.
She learned [the technique] by accident. The shark was high toward my face, “she told BBC Brazil. ‘I touched it to push it down, but the shark stopped swimming. It was a behavior that amazed and could not explain, “she says. Christina says she developed the technique ‘over the years, to achieve the results you see today.’ The Brazilian photographer Marcio Lisa, who accompanied the work of Cristina for two days in the Bahamas, said that observing the technique ‘is extremely exciting. ” ‘Although I have done shark feeding (feeding sharks) before other parts of the world, the Bahamas sharks are in greater quantity, about 30 or 40 around, and get closer,’ he says. ‘It tears of emotion to see an animal this size asset.’
